


5 times Gendry protected Arya, 1 time Arya returned the favour.

by justgrace



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Protective Gendry, Protective Older Brothers, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 19:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3907861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justgrace/pseuds/justgrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 pure fluff pieces.<br/>First time writing here so tell me what you think.<br/>Mostly this is for me cause I love it :)))</p><p>CURRENTLY ON HIATUS, SORRY!!!<br/>Will be updated soon, school is taking over my time :(</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arya's First Date

**Author's Note:**

> Ages are a little different, Arya is a grade 10 in high school, Jon, Sansa and Gendry are all in grade 11, Rob is in grade 12, Rickon is still in middle school, and Bran is in grade 8??
> 
> enjoy xoxo

Gendry sat on the couch with Jon. They were playing Mario Cart and Jon was losing. “Geez, Jon you really suck at this,” Rob says from the other couch. All the Stark boys and Gendry were in the Starks living room. Rob and Rickon sat one of the large brown leather couches and Job and Gendry sat on the other. Bran had wheeled himself between the two and was now laughing as Jon fell off the course yet again. 

“Fuck,” Jon mutters quietly from beside Gendry. Gendry laughs and raising his arms in victory as he crosses the finish line. The other Stark boys clapped and Jon smiles, it was all in fun. 

“You beat me, but wait till you take on the champ,” he says. “Arya is unbeatable.” 

“Where is she anyway?” Gendry asks. Usually Arya joined them for their video game sessions but today the little wolf was no where to be found. Jon shrugs. Gendry gets up to switch places with Rob, as it's his turn. Jon throws his controller to Bran. The boys start the next game and Gendry watches casually.

When it’s his turn again Gendry gets up to change seats but stops dead half way to the other couch. His eyes had floated across the room to see Arya Stark descending the stair case. Shit, he thinks as he her entire figure came into view. Arya was wearing a skin tight black skirt that started at her small waist and stopped just above her knee. Her top, clearly borrowed from Sansa, was a fitted and purple, tight over her chest, and flowed out like a wave around her waist. Her hair was braided intricately, the work of Sansa no doubt, and she wore a little make up which even from here he could tell was meant to make her eyes pop. She wore her Converse on her feet which made him chuckle imagining Sansa trying to force Arya into heels. 

She descended the steps and came into the den with Sansa at her heels. “So. What do you guys think?” she asked, standing with a look that was daring anyone to make fun of her. As she looked around at her brothers and her eyes crossed Gendry who now realized that his mouth was handing open. Thankfully he had a moment to compose himself as Rob’s shocked voice rang though out the house. 

“Where the hell do you think you are going in that?” he asked the outrage in his voice made Sansa flinch by Arya didn't move. Instead she put her hands on her hips and turned towards her eldest brother. 

“On a date,” she says simply. Gendry felt his heart drop. That was the last think he thought would have come out of Arya Starks mouth. 

“Like hell you are,” Jon says. Gendry sits himself down to avoid Arya’s glare as she comes to stare at Jon now with venom in her eyes. 

“Like hell you can do anything about it,” she spits at him. Arya and Jon get on very well but, like her other brothers, he is very protective of her. 

“We’ll see about that,” Rob says. “DAD!!” he shouts. Eddard Stark must have hear the ruckus because he enter the room immediately as Rob yell. 

“No need to shout,” he says in his soft yet authoritative voice. His eyes scan the room passing observing his sons and then landing on Arya. His face doesn’t betray any emotion, not a flicker passes through his eyes. Gendry looks to Arya whose chin is raised and hands still on her small hips looking back at her father. They share a look for a moment before Ned looks away.

“What is the issue?” he asked of his sons. 

“What do you mean?” Rob asks mortified making gesture towards Arya. Ned looks at his daughter again. “I mean what are people going to think when she goes out like that?” Rob asks his Dad. 

“That she’s a whore,” Rickon says causally from the couch. The whole room looks at little Rickon wide eyed. 

“What did you just call me?” Arya growls at the same time as Ned says “Language.”

“She looks amazing,” Sansa says strongly to her brothers. “you all are being babies!” She turns to Arya and hugs her. “Don’t listen to them you look great.” Gendry can see Arya’s small smile at her sisters words. 

Ned looks around the room at his sons. 

“Okay, let’s get something straight here.” Ned says. “Your sister is a big girl, she can wear what she likes, go out with who she likes and do what she likes, within reason,” he adds looking at Arya. “I know you are protective of her but Arya can take care of herself.” Ned tells the boys and Gendry. “That being said Arya,” he turns towards his daughter. “In case of emergency,” he says handing his daughter a small can of pepper spray. She takes it and hugs her father. “And be back by 11:30.”

“Don’t worry Dad, we will,” Arya says. 

“Who are you going out this then?” Gendry hears himself ask. Arya’s gaze turns to him her beautiful grey eyes locking to his for a moment. It makes his stomach flutter and his face feels very hot. 

“Aegon Targaryen,” she tells him and the rest of the group. There is a chorus of groans from her brothers and Gendry can't help but join in. He’s seen Aegon at school, talked to him a few times. He is nice enough, kind of handsy with the girls he dates but no where near good enough for Arya. “Shut up,” she tells her brothers. 

Just then a car pulls into the drive way and they hear the door open and shut. “He’s early,” comes a very un-Arya-like voice out of Arya’s mouth. Sansa straightens her sisters outfit and hands her a hand back, which Arya drop the can of pepper spray into. The boys get up and Gendry follows suit going to lean against the bottom of the stairs near Arya. Bran wheels himself next to his father, Rob and Jon lean against the couch and Rickon sits on one of the arms facing the door. They wait for the knock that comes promptly and Arya steps quickly to open it. 

“Hi Arya,” comes a voice from the other side, too smooth and calm for Gendry's liking. 

“Hey,” the very un-Arya-like voice says from Arya’s small lips. She motions him and and Gendry is pleased to see the smile on his face falter as he looks around at the groups staring at the door. 

“Hi Mr.Stark,” Aegon’s voice cracks slightly and Gendry sees Rob and Jon smirk. “...and all of Arya’s brothers and...” his eyes fall on Gendry. 

“Gendry Waters,” he says confidently holding out his hand. 

“Aegon Targarrrrr-yen,” he says as Gendry squeezes his hand tightly, holding on until he feels a small elbow in his side. Arya is glaring at him as Aegon takes his hand back shaking it subtly. 

“Let’s go,” Arya says elbowing Gendry harder this time so he grabs his side. Then kissing her father’s cheek and promptly smacking each of her brothers on the back of the head and pushing Rickon off the arm onto the couch itself. Giving her sister a fleeting hug she is out the door in an instant.


	2. Losing the Starks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I changed chapter 2 because I wasn't loving it. This one I love but it is a little sad. In this chapter we lose some of the Starks, Ned, Catlyen, Rob and Bran is in the accident just to warn you before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's sad. But the Gendry love is strong :)

When Gendry heard the news he literally dropped the car parts he was holding. 

“Where are they now?” He had asked his foster father who had grunted in response. 

This was typical Tabho Mott behaviour, he wasn’t a particularly eloquent man. Gendry rolled his eyes and turned to take the stairs up to his bedroom, which was over the garage, two at at time. He changed his greasy shirt and grabbed his jacket and motorcycle helmet hopping down the stairs at increased speed. He then grabbed his phone. He was about to call Jon when he thought better of it. Jon would be a wreck right now. They all would be a wreck right now but Sansa is the one he should call. He dialled the number with increased care and speed. 

*ring, ring, ring* 

“Sansa Stark,” came her broken voice from the other side of the phone. 

“San, it’s Gendry. I just heard. I’m coming. Where are you guys?” 

“Gen,” her voice sounded relieved. “King’s Landing Royal Hospital.”

“What do you need?” he asked.

“Nothing,” came Sansa’s raspy voice. She pauses for a moment. “Thank you Gendry.”

“I’ll be there in ten,” he responds quickly. He hears the line disconnect. Gendry hoped on his bike after telling Mott that he’ll be gone for a while. His foster father just nods and gives him a pat on the back. 

Gendry doesn’t think he has ever ridden his motorcycle that fast in this life. All he can think about is getting to the hospital, all he can think about is the Starks. Arya is in his mind most, he is wondering how she is handling all of this. Now in her grade 12 year the stress has been a lot on her, she really wants to get a scholarship and has been working non-stop on school work. Sansa like him, has taken a year to defer school though for different reasons. He hadn’t had the money to pay for everything. Sansa on the other hand was still working out some personal issues all relating to that dick Joffery. Jon had started school already, ROTC at the Wall Base in the North, and Rob was in his second year that The Riverland School for Arts and Science. Ned and Cat had been going to pick him up when a car had hit them head on. He finally pulled into the parking lot paying the fee and dropping his bike in a spot. 

He hurried towards the doors, his heart was pounding. He made it to the second floor surgery wing and thats when he saw them. Jon was pacing up and down the rows of chairs. His best friend’s eyes were puffy and red and every so often he would shake his head slightly. Sansa was sitting with Rickon talking quietly to her little brother. She would sniff ever so often and bring her hand up to wipe tears away. Then there was Arya. She was sitting, unmoving, staring at the doors leading to the surgery wing. Her face was blank and her jaw was clenched and she didn’t look up when Jon spotted him. Gendry walked forward and embraced his friend. There wasn’t anything he could say to make this better so he just held his friend. When they let go Jon gave him a nod and Gendry clapped him on the back. Sansa came over and Gendry pulled her into his arms gently. He could feel the tension running through her. When he let her go the concern and fear and sadness all shown through on her face. She saw his eyes move to Arya who still hadn’t moved. 

“She’s been like that since they took Bran in for surgery. She won’t move, she hasn’t talked.” Sansa’s voice was shaking slightly. 

“I tried to talk to her but it’s like she can’t hear me.” Jon’s voice was more even but filled with concern for his favourite sister. 

“Have the doctors said anything?” Gendry asked. He really didn’t have any idea what was going on. He was surprised when it was Sansa who answered. 

“Bran is in surgery, there was a lot of damage to his spine. They don’t know if he will be able to walk again.” She paused drawing a breath to compose herself. “Rob and mum went into surgery but…but there wasn’t anything they could do.” He lower lip quivers slightly and Gendry places his arm around her shoulder. “Dad…Dad…was killed at the scene.” Both Jon and Sansa flinched at these words. Gendry felt his heart sink. Ned Stark. Strong, noble, kind, Ned Stark… dead. He couldn’t believe it, but there it was. 

“I am so sorry,” Gendry said. He was surprised to find that he had a lump in his throat and the words came out stiffly. They just stood there for a long moment Gendry processing the words he had just heard. A voice behind them made them jump. 

“Stark, who are the people waiting to hear about Bran Stark.” A doctor in a white lab coat asks. Jon and Sansa don’t respond. 

“We are,” Gendry says. The doctor walks over to them. 

“I think we should talk in private,” he says to Gendry. Jon snaps out of his daze and looks up. 

“Yes, my sister and I.” Jon indicates Sansa. “We’ll come.” The doctor nods and turns. Gendry gives Sansa a last squeeze and the two walk away with the doctor. 

Gendry turns back to Arya and Rickon. Rickon has fallen asleep on the benches but Arya remains unmoving. He walks over to her and sits down next to her placing his elbows on his legs and leading towards her. Arya is sitting staring at the doors in front of her. He can see her small jaw clenching and unclenching. He can also see that her hands are balled up into fists. He reaches out and takes one in his own. Her face doesn’t change but he slowly opens up her fist to see the nail marks she has created on the inside of her hand. He hold her hand quietly gently massaging the nail marks until they fade. He does the same with her other hand and remains holding it after he finishes. He doesn’t want to startle her, but she is scaring him. 

“Arya,” he whispers. She doesn’t move. “Arya, please listen to me. I am right here, okay. Right here if you need me. I promise I am not going anywhere.” She doesn’t move. “Arya please. Don’t shut me out like this, don’t shut the world out. I am right here.” For a long moment the small girl next to him clenches her jaw tight, then slowly she scoots over to him and tucks her knees to her chest leading into him. Gendry quickly and protectively put his arm around her and holds her there. She doesn’t cry, no tears fall from her cheeks but she buries her face in his shoulder and whispers. 

“Please, don’t ever leave me.” The words almost break Gendry’s heart in two. He wishes that he could take the pain away from her, somehow transfer it to him, because nothing could be worse then seeing Arya Stark like this. When Sansa and Jon return with new tears in their eyes Gendry fears the worst. 

“He’s alive,” Jon says quickly and quietly to Gendry’s questioning look. Arya remains a statue in his arms. “He’s been paralyzed from the waist down.” Jon tells them. He feels Arya flinch beside him and instinctively lowers his lips onto the top of her head, placing a light kiss there. Bran… athletic, smart, kind, Bran who loved to climb was paralyzed. The world is cruel.

“The doctors said he will be asleep for a while, that we should go home and get some rest.” Sansa is looking at Arya, through Gendry’s arms, who still hasn’t said a word. Gendry wishes she would look up at Sansa, they need each other right now. 

“I want to say,” Jon says decisively. “And Rickon is already asleep.”

“Arya and I could go home and sleep for a few hours then,” Sansa suggests. 

“I don’t want to go back there,” Arya’s tiny voice creeps out of Gendry’s shoulder. 

“You don’t want to go home?” Gendry asks. 

“I don’t think I can,” comes her broken voice. Sansa flies over to her sister, Arya lets go of Gendry and allows her sister to hug her tightly. When the girls break apart they both of tears shining in their eyes. 

“It’s okay,” Sansa says. “You don’t have to go home just yet.”

———

An hour later Arya was in his shower and Gendry was on the phone with Jon and Sansa. They were both worrying about Arya. They chatted for a while and made plans for him and Arya to come to the hospital in the morning. He hung up the phone and he changed into some sweat pants and a t-shirt. He also shut off the lights letting only the light through the open window light the room. He hears the shower turn off and a few minutes later Arya comes out. He’s lent her a t-shirt and a pair of his boxers because there was no way his pants would fit her tiny frame. He felt really odd about this but Arya looked the most comfortable she had all day. 

“So the bed is all yours, I’ll be down the hall on the couch okay?” Gendry tells Arya walking towards the door. She walks over to the bed and slips under the covers. She is still sitting up and looking at him with her piercing grey eyes. 

“Gendry?” Arya’s voice is stronger than it had been at the hospital. “Will you please stay with me?” Gendry considered her for a moment. He walks over to the bed and lays down, Arya shifting towards the wall and laying down. Gendry lies on his back and wraps an arm around her. Arya shifts as close to Gendry as she can manage, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. 

“I’m here, just remember, I’m always here.” Gendry tells Arya. He kisses her forehead. Arya closes her eyes and drifts off slowly to sleep.


	3. Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya comes home everyday for a week with bruises all over her and Gendry is going to get to the bottom of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, but not really. Honestly, I suck at finishing things so don't get your hopes up.

Arya had come home with bruises everyday this week. 

On Monday, on her knuckles which Gendry noticed when she was helping Rickon with his homework. 

On Tuesday, on her shoulder which Gendry had seen when Arya took off her sweater to help Sansa cook dinner.

On Wednesday he had spotted on in her thigh as she had walked out of the shower with only her towel. 

On Thursday both of her shins had been covered with them. 

 

Friday he got a panicked call from Sansa saying that Arya had come home with a black eye. That was the last straw, he had texted Jon and then driven over to the Stark’s small apartment to investigate. 

Sansa lets him in. Bran is in the living room and Gendry smiles at him. 

“She is in her room.” Sansa tell Gendry. He heads down the hall and enters Arya’s room without knocking. She is lying on her bed with an ice pack on her face. Gendry hops over the lays bedside her. 

“So you gonna tell me then?” Gendry asks. 

“Tell you what?” She is avoiding the question, he knows that, obviously. He turns her head to the side and rolls his eyes at her. She can't see him with the ice pack on her eye. 

"I'm rolling my eyes at you." he says Arya chuckles slightly. 

"Thanks for the update stupid.” Arya says. 

“It's either talk to me or I go bring in Sansa and lock you in this room until you tell her what’s going on,” Gendry threatens. They both know it's an empty threat, Sansa is much to busy trying to keep the house from falling apart. With Bran applying to universities, Jon trying to run the Stark's company, Rickon getting in trouble at school, and now Arya coming home with bruises all over her.

“It's not anything bad,” she says vaguely. Gendry rolls over onto his stomach, closer to Arya, his arm brushing against her. He reaches over and pulls the ice pack off her eye, his fingers brushing gently across her cheek. She avoids his eyes, starring through them to look at the ceiling. 

“Looks bad enough to me,” he says gently. When Arya finally looks at him Gendry can see just how tired she is. With everything going on with he family he has been trying to help out as much as he can. Driving Bran and Rickon around, cleaning the house, helping Jon with the business, not that he knew anymore than Jon but with their heads and Jory’s help they’ve been able to keep things going, at least. 

Through all of this, he hasn’t had much time to spend with Arya. She’s been so strong and stoic since her father’s death. She was the only one to speak at the funeral. She hadn’t cried as she bid goodbye to her mother, brother, and most beloved father. She’d stood in the funeral line while the rest of her siblings had avoided it. She’d shaken everyone hand, Gendry had come over half way through to try to get her to eat something. She’d waved him off ‘he would have wanted me to speak to them’ she’d told him, taking the outstretched hand of a older man. 

“What?” Arya asks, snapping Gendry out of this thoughts. 

“Ar, just tell me how it happened,” he pushes gently. She shakes her head. “Please Ar, please. Just tell me.” He stares at her straight into her eyes, his hand gently wrapped around her neck holding her head close to his. He watches her squirm uncomfortable under his gaze but refuses to let her out of it. 

“Fine,” she says after a few silent minutes. She tugs her chin from Gendry’s grasp and stares at the ceiling again. “I started boxing.” Gendry frowns at this answer, he doesn’t know exactly what he expected but it sure wasn’t this. 

“You’ve started boxing?” he echoes her words trying to get a handle on the concept of tiny Arya Stark in a boxing ring. 

“Yeah,” Arya says shortly. 

“Care to elaborate?” he asks. Arya sighs and sits up, and Gendry copies her movement. 

“On Monday, after class I went to the gym like always and…it’s a long story but, it end with me punching out a guy for grabbing my ass and one of the trainers at the gym offering to show me how to box. His name is Syrio Forell. When he was young he used to box professionally for The Circuit of the Black and White, it’s apparently some international boxing tournament that’s a really big deal.” Gendry takes in Arya’s words in little mouthfuls. Went to the gym. Punch a guy out. He had grabbed her ass. Dude offered to teach her boxing. It was an old dude so it’s less weird. Of course Arya would choose boxing as a way to get out all of her pent up emotions. Therapy was much too rational, why talk about your problems when you can punch people out instead. 

“Gendry?” Arya asks. 

“Okay,” Gendry says slowly. “How mad are you going to get if I get all overprotective and tell you that there are better ways to solve your problems and deal with your emotions, than getting beat up by some dude you just met.”

“Probably a lot,” Arya says evenly. 

“So you would probably get really mad if I told you I hate the idea of anyone hitting you and would like to go give this Forell guy a piece of my mind for convincing you that this was a good idea. And then you would tell me that no one convinced you and it was your choice and you aren’t doing it to run away from our problems.”

“Probably,” Arya replies giving him a little frown. 

“And then I would probably give up fighting with you because I hate fighting with you and beg you to be careful because I couldn’t stand it if anything were to happen to you, even if it was by accident.” Gendry says. Then he reaches out and pulls Arya into his chest and buries his face into her neck. “And then I would hug you and tell you that I miss you, and I’ve been way to busy, and that I…” Gendry stops himself from saying those words because if he says those words then everything changes and the Starks have had enough change in the last year, they don’t need any more. 

“And that you what?” Arya asks. Gendry releases her from his hug and looks at her beautiful grey eyes and the bruise that surrounded her left one. 

“And that I wish you would stop coming home with bruises all over, it’s scaring Sansa. And that Jon and I are going to punch out the guy that grabbed your ass at they gym, don’t think I didn’t hear that part of the story.” Arya rolled her eyes and pushed him back onto the bed and hopped out the door. 

 

Gendry showed up on Saturday with a back eye on his right to match the one on Arya’s left and sat quietly while Arya shouted at him for going back to they gym because she didn’t need his protection.


End file.
